Wisconsin union battle casts shadow over local races
In Milwaukee County, Republican Jeff Stone won the Feb. 15 primary for county executive, a position Walker held for eight years before becoming governor. On that same day, the first of the mass protests began against Walker’s agenda, drawing thousands of people to the Capitol for weeks.
Amid the demonstrations, Stone, who is also a state representative, voted twice for Walker’s collective bargaining law. His challenger, Chris Abele, ran ads criticizing Walker’s performance in Milwaukee, including one that featured a disgusted-looking man asking, “Jeff Stone? I thought he was Scott Walker’s twin.”
Abele, a political neophyte, easily beat Stone in the general election.
An almost identical scenario played out in the race for village president in Lake Hallie, a small community in northwest Wisconsin.
Republican state Rep. Kathy Bernier won the primary, then voted twice for Walker’s collective bargaining law. She lost the general election by 37 votes.
Bernier said there were no clear signs that backing Walker cost her the race, but she did see one yard sign calling for her recall. And during door-to-door visits, someone asked a friend who accompanied her if he had voted for Walker.
When her friend replied yes, the homeowner slammed the door.
In Outagamie County, just south of Green Bay, former Republican state Treasurer Jack Voight began his run for county executive by playing up his associations with Walker. But after the collective bargaining battle broke out, those ties became a liability. He lost to Democrat Tom Nelson.
“When that issue came forward, I had a dickens of a time,” Voight said.